An Honest Car Dealer?
I just read this short article this morning about a couple whose truck was destroyed by fire on the way to the dealer to trade it in.
The article didn’t state any dollar figures, but in the end, the dealership still accepted the truck as a trade-in. Now did they pay the agreed-upon price or just scrap rates? I don’t know, but if they paid the original price, then I commend them for their honesty and integrity.
When I traded in my Acura for my Honda Ridgeline 2 years ago, the Carfax report indicated it had frame damage (which it didn’t), but they still gave me fair market value as if the car didn’t have the damage (and I got the truck for invoice price too). And that’s why I would still recommend that dealership to anyone (Herson’s Honda in Rockville, MD), even if I can’t really recommend their service department. Honesty still matters very much in this day and age. It’s not always about the money.
Commend them for their honesty? Why?
That sounds like charity to me. Not honesty.
Yup I agree with anonymous. If anything, the couple should be chastised. Why would you even ALLOW the dealership to still give you the full value after you damage the product? Especially given that the husband exacerbated the problem by not pulling over immediately.
Sorry you guys feel that way. Personally, from the limited info I got from the article, it seems like a classy thing on the dealer’s part.
As for the couple, well you’re right that perhaps they shouldn’t have taken the money from the dealer, but again I don’t know how much money exchanged hands. I can only assume, and that usually gets me in trouble anyway.
Let’s say someone on craigslist has a TV for sale. You go to look at the TV, and it’s in good shape. You want to buy it.
You go to the ATM to get money, then go back to pay for the TV. In the intervening half hour, it has caught on fire. Is it “honest” to pay for the burned up TV?
No, it’s stupid.
A lot of car dealers are honest – they’re trying to run their business in a profitable manner (not to mention a bad reputation is hard to get rid of). It was nice of the dealership to give the people trade in value for their car… then again wouldn’t their insurance have given them that same fair market value?
If you want to find the best new Honda deal in the DC/Baltimore area…try Anderson’s Honda in Baltimore City. I bought my Accord there a few years back and have successful recommended the dealership to several of my friends. Be sure to request a price quote online to get the best price.
They really offer the lowest prices around. And no, I don’t work for them or have any financial connection. Just wanted to share some info on deals.
I’m sorry, but I am going to agree with the comments above- this isn’t about honesty or integrity on the part of the car dealership. There is most likely more to the story- most likely they did get the insurance company involved.